This article was excerpted from the debut issue of our monthly community newspaper, the Camana Bay Times, available for collection throughout the Town Centre, including the Camana Bay Visitor Centre.

By Alan Markoff

Movie-goers will have the option to experience the best cinema can offer when they go to see a film at Regal Camana Bay Stadium 6 from March next year.

A major upgrade to several elements of Grand Cayman’s only cinema will start in mid-January with a retrofit of Auditorium 6 that will bring luxury reclining “VIP seating” and better audio and visual performance.

“The whole experience is going to be changed quite a bit,” says General Manager Corey Randolph. “We’ll be providing a state-of-the-art cinematic experience.”

The spacious reclining seats are electric-powered, allowing people to recline the chair and raise the footrest with the push of a button to watch a film. The seats have cup holders and swivelling trays for food and drinks and enough room between them that no one will feel crowded.

The VIP auditorium will use what is known as 4K resolution projectors.

“It’s actually more than double the quality and resolution that we currently have,” says Randolph.

But it’s the audio upgrade to Dolby Atmos surround sound in Auditorium 6 that has Randolph most excited.

“It’s top-of-the-line of what’s available,” he says. “It’s offered only in a handful of theatres in the United States right now.”

Like the theatres that offer luxury seating in the U.S., the Camana Bay cinema will allow guests to pick their seats in the VIP auditorium when they purchase tickets.

A new lounge near the VIP auditorium that offers most everything the main concession stand sells will be available to those with VIP tickets.

Putting in the luxury seating will reduce the capacity of Auditorium 6 from 140 to 58 people. That reduction, along with the significant capital investment for the upgrades, will bring about a VIP theatre surcharge for seeing films in the luxury seats, Randolph says.

New ticketing process

The upgrades to Auditorium 6, which are expected to be completed by March, won’t be the only changes at the Camana Bay cinema, Randolph says. At the same time the retrofitted auditorium opens, the cinema will initiate a new system for buying tickets. The current ticket box office will close and guests will be able to buy their tickets at the concession stand. The number of cash registers at the concession stand will double from five to 10 to prevent delays.

“You’ll be able to buy your tickets and popcorn at the same time, all in one transaction,” says Randolph.